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Reimagine the future

Center for the Study of Futures

The Center for the Study of Futures offers futures research, experimental practice, and innovative foresight training for diverse audiences.

The Center for the Study of Futures at Arizona State University builds a cross-disciplinary capacity to imagine a rich variety of plausible futures, reflect on what those futures demand from us, and design pathways toward positive outcomes. By investigating and inventing new theories and methods for creating better futures, the Center aims to nurture and amplify future-oriented scholarship and practice.

The Center for the Study of Futures

Academy

The Futures Academy trains the next generation of future-savvy students, researchers, and professionals by building up their anticipatory competence.

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Lab

The Futures Lab rallies scholars and practitioners from ASU and beyond to conduct critical and innovative futures research.

More about the lab

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Enterprise

The Futures Enterprise leverages the Center’s research to put foresight into practice by offering bespoke applied research and foresight processes.

More about the enterprise

Featured Projects

Oxford Futures Forum

Advancing the theoretical and practical impacts of scenario planning, the OFF is a triennial two-day meeting of practitioners and scholars geared towards nurturing new collaborations in research, practice, and education.

Learn about the Forum

SHINE (Sensors and Humans in Networking Environments)

Looking beyond the latest gadgetry of the Internet of Things, SHINE instead takes on a human-centered lens and asks: What are the social, ethical, cultural and legal dimensions of the proliferation of so-called “smart” objects and environments?

Learn about SHINE

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CapaCITY

Cities are on the front lines of climate change and are responding in kind, working to build resilient urban systems and decarbonize. CapaCity develops and exchanges tools and knowledge that enable city administrations to implement sustainability solutions and make future-ready cities.

Learn about capaCITY

People

Cynthia Selin
By creating new methods, concepts and platforms for confronting uncertainties, Dr. Cynthia Selin’s work-- as a social scientist and a scenario practitioner— stimulates improved strategic capacities and foresight.
Lauren Withycombe Keeler
Dr. Keeler studies how different people with different professional responsibilities understand and make sense of the future and how futures are created through professional practice.
Michael Bennett
Michael Bennett is an associate research professor in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society and the Center for Science and the Imagination, and a lecturer in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law at Arizona State University.
Kaethe Selkirk
Kaethe is a Ph.D. candidate in the School for the Future of Innovation in Society. She holds a M.S. in Community and Regional Planning and a M.S. in Sustainable Design from the University of Texas at Austin School of Architecture. Her research and practice focus on urban planning and design, resilience, and strategic foresight.
Joshua Loughman
Joshua Loughman is a lecturer in the Fulton Schools of engineering and directs the Engineering Projects in Community Service (EPICS) program. His research interests are at the intersection of renewable energy transitions, scenarios and other futures techniques, and modeling complex systems.
JP Nelson
JP Nelson studies socio-technical systems, science and technology policy, and ethics. He’s interested in futures studies as an intersection between possible worlds construction and decision-making under uncertainty. When not pursuing his studies or running for ASU Track/Cross Country, JP reads and studies social game design.